Renal clear cell carcinoma: diffusion tensor imaging diagnostic accuracy and correlations with clinical and histopathological factors

• Published in: Clinical radiology 2017-07, Vol.72 (7), p.560-564
• Main Authors: Feng, Q, Fang, W, Sun, X.P, Sun, S.H, Zhang, R.M, Ma, Z.J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anisotropy; Carcinoma, Renal Cell - chemistry; Carcinoma, Renal Cell - diagnostic imaging; Carcinoma, Renal Cell - pathology; Cell Count; Diffusion Tensor Imaging; Female; Humans; Ki-67 Antigen - analysis; Kidney Neoplasms - chemistry; Kidney Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Kidney Neoplasms - pathology; Male; Radiology; Reproducibility of Results
• ISSN: 0009-9260; 1365-229X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.crad.2017.02.016

Aim To investigate whether diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can be used to assess renal clinical histopathology, including the nuclear grade (NG), cell density (CD), and the presence of ki-67. Materials and methods Thirty patients were enrolled in the study and were confirmed at surgical histopathology to have clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC). For DTI, a coronal echo-planar imaging sequence was performed (1400 ms repetition time, 76 ms echo time, diffusion direction=6, number of excitations=4; b=0 and 800 s/mm2 , 6 mm section thickness with no intersection gap). CD and the presence of ki-67 were compared between the different NGs. Correlations between apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs), E1, fractional anisotropy (FA), CD, and ki-67 were evaluated. Results ADC, E1, and FA values are important tools used to identify NG. The cut-off values were 1.003×10−3  mm2 /s, 1.277×10−3  mm2 /s, and 0.218 mm2 /s, respectively. The difference between high- and low-grade CD was significant ( t =−4.50, p